World Cup Today, 1/7/14

There are two spots left in the quarter finals of the World Cup, and if Argentina don’t end up taking one of them that will come as a slight surprise to most observers it is fair to say. With Lionel Messi answering frankly idiotic questions about his ability to play ‘at this level’, as if the World Cup is somehow harder than the Champions League or La Liga, it looks as though the time has come for Argentina to convert upon their wealth of attacking options and make a strong run to the final at the least. We knew that there would be casualties at this tournament, of course, and the combination of fatigue and heat has taken a toll of both squads. There was some bad news when Sergio Aguero was ruled out with a thigh problem, and PSG’s livewire attacker Ezequiel Lavezzi is due to replace the City man if Alejandro Sabella stays with his 4-3-3 system rather than bolstering his midfield. Switzerland are missing Mario Gavranovic, who picked up a nasty injury in training, but Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Josip Drmic look likely to make up their attack, and can definitely put pressure on the South American outfit. The other match tonight, and the last in the round of 16 is Belgium versus the United States of America, to give them their full and glorious name, and there has been a massive amount of interest in this competition from the land of the free even since the US started their campaign. Playing the much-loved Belgian side has only intensified the focus, and this game could well turn out to be one of the biggest of the tournament in terms of the worldwide audience as a result of that. The Europeans come in as favourites, but this US side loves the underdog mentality and won’t mind that one bit. Belgium have a few defensive issues, with Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen both needing late fitness tests and Laurent Ciman and Anthony Vanden Borre ruled out, and Steven Defour is also missing after being sent off against South Korea. The USA are hopeful that Jozy Altidore could return, but otherwise Jurgen Klinsmann is free from injury worries as he prepares his squad for the biggest game of their lives so far.